The Fire that Burns Brightest
by Dath Sindarin
Summary: Things were just starting to look up for Naruto.  He never would have expected this to happen. No romance maybe hints of NaruIno.  Slight spoilers up to 367
1. Burns Brightest

AN : I don't own Naruto

* * *

Naruto never thought that this would be the way that things would turn out. Team Seven was restored, Orochimaru was dead, and Akatsuki defeated. Things were finally looking up for the Jinchuuriki. Sometimes he thought he even saw the villagers look at him with something that resembled respect. He had never really doubted in himself, but for the first time he felt true vindication. He could feel the changes taking place; he could feel his dreams taking root.

What now seems to be the worst of times happened in a way that he couldn't even begin to believe, the catalyst to it all was one of the best things to ever happen to him. It all started when Tsunade called him into her office.

* * *

Tsunade looked over her desk at the young shinobi that she had grown to seen as her family. Looking back she had a hard time reconciling the man who sat before her and the brat who she originally. Not to say that she thought less of either one, but it's hard to believe that someone could have matured that much in four short years. Of course, she thought, my primary reference points for boys' maturing are Orochimaru and Jiraiya. Neither of them changed from being creepy and adolescently perverted. She thought about it a second and chuckled while correcting herself; Jiraiya was creepy and adolescently perverted, Orochimaru had been creepy and perverted for adolescents. 

She still shivered when she thought about it and was almost glad that he became a missing-nin it was frightening to think what he would do to a Genin team. She still couldn't believe how normal Anko was.

A loud cough sounded from behind her and she realized that both Jiraiya and Naruto were getting impatient. She hadn't told either what this meeting was about, but she thought that Jiraiya suspected. She hated it that she still had a hard time getting things past him. Naruto just looked at her with a clueless but anxious expression on his face. She decided not to keep him in suspense for much longer.

"Don't worry brat this meeting isn't about anything bad, in fact the Council hasn't made a fuss about you in weeks." Tsunade said while drawing herself up to take the mantle of Hokage and to let Naruto know that this was official business… Kage business.

"That's a relief Hokage-Sama." Naruto sighed as the anxiety left him and only the curiosity remained. He still called her Obaachan in everything but official situations, something that deep, deep inside of her she was happy about. She suspected he started to show the position of Hokage respect so that he could get it when he finally reached his goal.

"In fact, this meeting should be a good thing," Tsunade continued. "I feel that the time is right to tell you your heritage."

At this point it appeared that Naruto froze. Only his eyes moved in between his Sensei and his Hokage. But at this point you could tell through the hurt in his eyes that he was looking back and forth between the two people who he thought of as the closest thing he would ever have to parents. A cross between betrayal and excitement mixing in his eyes, at last his eyes settled on his Hokage, begging for answers.

"I'll start out by saying that both Jiraiya and I have known who your parents are since we learned your name. We are some of the only people to know who they are. The standing orders were to tell you when you turned eighteen. But at this point it is up to our own discretion. Jiraiya told me that he thought that you were ready about eight months ago, close to your seventeenth birthday. At that time we still hadn't finished off a good bit of Akatsuki and I didn't want to put any more stress on you. We had to wait until you were strong enough to protect yourself and to display the maturity to have the announcement of your lineage to do any good," Tsunade explained.

Naruto nodded to show that he understood their reasoning and that he wouldn't hold a grudge against them. He was a bit curious about what she meant in the last part but trusted that it would make sense in time.

Tsunade took a deep breath, knowing that what she said next was extremely important to one of her most precious people. "Naruto your mother was born Uzumaki Kushina, she was a kunoichi of the former Whirlpool country. Your personalities are similar to her but your looks and the Will of Fire that you possess come from your Father, he was a Leaf ninja. His name was Namikaze Minato."

Throughout the entire conversation Naruto was on the edge of his seat, drinking in the information about his parents. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't heard of either of them and was worried that he might not be able to talk to anyone who knew them. That worry was blown out of the water when Tsunade continued.

"You might know your father better as the Fourth Hokage." At that point Tsunade stopped to try to get a gauge of Naruto's reaction to this revelation.

Naruto's mind scrambled for some kind of purchase. At this point he needed to think of something while he subconsciously processed what he just learned. So he thought back to what Tsunade said earlier. Now he understood. For the revelation that he was actually an elite in the village when judged by both skill and heredity might be enough to tip the balance in his favor as a Hokage candidate. However he could have ruined his chances if he acted the fool in someway and destroyed the image that this information would help shape.

At that point his subconscious caught up to him like a freight train and he blinked. This caused Jiraiya, who had just been standing there, to begin to laugh. His apprentice had been sitting for a while staring strait a head until he suddenly blinked and seemed to wake up. Noticing the dual glares directed at him he shut up.

Tsunade continued, "Now your parents didn't leave you much in the way of physical or monetary value, but they both at one time or another kept journals that they have left for you. In addition they both left you jutsu scroll. I believe your father's even has the Hiraishin in it. They are all in that box." She ended this by pointing at a box in the back of the room.

At this point Naruto couldn't decide where to start, he really wanted to learn about his parents, but Hiraishin no Jutsu was the coolest technique that he had ever heard of and that said something. Suddenly a light bulb went off over his head and he created four clones, one to read each scroll/journal. He then turned to Jiraiya and Tsunade and asked, "Can you tell me some stories about them."

"Sure." Tsunade replied, while Jiraiya just nodded. They went on to discuss many things. Naruto's parents past and also how they were going to announce it. They decided to publicly announce it in four months time in the giant square in front of Konoha's main gate on his birthday they would also announce to the younger generation the true fate of the Kyuubi. Ironically this is the same place that the Sandaime announced the Kyuubi and first made the Law eighteen years ago. They laughed and decided that it would be good to balance that bad event with a good one.

* * *

What they didn't know what that someone had overheard the whole conversation. Someone who didn't care at all about any of the people in the room and a twisted idea of what was best for Konoha, once again the rotten ROOTs of Konoha threatened to topple it.

* * *

The day had finally come. This was the beginning of the fulfillments of his dreams. All of his friend and most of his acquaintances were out in the crowd, speculating about what this announcement was about. Most of the Jounin and others in the crowd that knew about the Sandaime's law suspected that it was relating to it judging by Naruto's presence on the stage as well as the date. Ironically most of Naruto's friends still didn't know that today was his birthday. 

Sitting near him on the stage was the only person that he revealed the reason for the gathering to. The Kazekage Gaara was the only person he felt he could truly talk to about some things and have them really understand. Others from his past were sprinkled throughout the crowd. Without his knowledge Jiraiya and Tsunade had conspired to have a lot of his friends from the past scattered throughout the crowd. Most notably Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami from Wave and, Princess Yukie from Snow Country were brought in covertly. They were sitting together in a box above the square so that they could have a clear view.

When the time finally arrived Tsunade in her full Hokage attire stood and addressed the assembled ninja. "Eighteen years ago on this day the Fourth Hokage and many other brave Ninja fell. The Fourth gave his life to stop the Kyuubi and to save this village. All of you have heard this story before. However there are parts of this story that have been kept a secret from many of you."

"After the victory the Sandaime made a Law. A Law that was so important that even speaking of it was punishable by death. Some of you know what I speak and some of you don't. This law was put in place to protect this village as well as protect one person. This law prevented some of the truths of the day to be passed on to the younger generations. This was in hope that some of the meaningless prejudices would not be passed on to the next generation. Unfortunately this law failed. This prejudice was passed down even though there was not a single logical reason for this given to the younger generation."

"The truth of the matter is that the Fourth Hokage could not kill the Kyuubi so he was forced to seal the demon into a new born baby. He sealed it into Uzumaki Naruto."

After she said this whispers went throughout the crowd and confusion showed on the faces of many of the younger generation. Glee was shown on the faces of some of the bigots as they thought of ways that they could use this to their advantage.

"You have to understand," Tsunade said, "Naruto is not the Demon itself. He is the container, the prison which holds it back from attacking us. In addition there is another secret from that day which no one knows about. The Fourth did not seal the Kyuubi into a random child. He sealed the demon into his own son. Uzumaki Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage. He is the last scion of the Namikaze."

Silence was absolute throughout the village as these words where processed. Just as the shock was wearing of the day took a giant turn for the worst.

A lone ANBU ran through the gate exhausted and heavily injured. In a flash the Hokage was by his side trying to heal his wounds. As she was working on that he told her grave news through her protests that he shouldn't speak.

He said, "Hokage-Sama the Cloud and Rock are on the move. They ambushed my team and their moving quickly enough that no one else has been able to get through. Their Kages are leading them with the majority of their Jounin and Chunin behind them. They are using summons to stay fresh for battle. They should be here momentarily."

In a flurry of motion Tsunade stood and started to shout orders. She ordered to begin the evacuation of all civilians and to have all the low level Genin and a good number of Chunin guard them. All retired Shinobi should arm themselves and all those above C level readiness should join the regular fighting force while the rest should help protect the evacuees. In the scramble Naruto stood, in stunned disbelief that of all days it was his day of victory that this tragedy had to happen. He really hated October 10th.

* * *

Naruto stood upon the wall hands clenched to his side. He looked out over the wasteland in front of him. The battle had been raging for a while now and the outcome looked grim. They had managed to hold them outside of the city up to this point. Unfortunately both Tsunade and Jiraiya had been injured while fighting against the two opposing Kages and Gaara was keeping the perimeter secure from the rest of the invasion force and was working with the giant Akimichis to keep out there summons. 

In his mind Naruto was trying to think of some kind of plan. If only had managed to learn Hiraishin by now he could probably turn the tide. Unfortunately it was much harder to learn than the rasengan and he had to try to train in secret, something that now appears to have been totally wasted. With a sigh Naruto decided to use that Jutsu. His first original Jutsu, the one he hoped to never have to use. A tear ran down his face when he thought about how things were just starting to look up. He thought of his friends and his will once again was strong. He turned his head to Tsunade, Jiraiya, Gaara, and Iruka and said.

"Tsunade, Jiraiya I just want to thank you for everything this would have been a beautiful day. Thank you for being for me, you were the parents that I never had. Iruka you were like an older brother to me. Live a long life and name your firstborn after me and tell him of the great Uzumaki Naruto over Ramen. Gaara protect my precious people. That includes you. Oh and Jiraiya thanks for always making me look good during training. If you weren't so hopeless with women I wouldn't have gotten nearly as many."

"Wait brat, what are you talking about I'm great with women. And more importantly why are you acting like you're about to die?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade added on. "Naruto remember you can't die until you become Hokage so don't do anything stupid." Iruka nodded his head frantically in agreement.

Gaara just stared at him reading deep into his soul until he nodded and said, "Don't worry I will protect your precious people."

With that Naruto nodded and replied, "Don't worry I always said I wouldn't die until I became Hokage. I never go back on my word."

With that said he jumped to the ground and swiftly ran towards the enemy lines. The Tsuchikage stood and said, "Well if it isn't the one that we came to kill. The son of the Yellow Flash, but don't think that just by sacrificing yourself you will be able to stop us. As long as we are here we might as well burn Konoha to the ground. You couldn't stop us even if you knew the Hiraishin. You're city is doomed."

During this speech Naruto froze. They were there for him, this was his fault. He quickly waved those tumultuous emotions to the side. It didn't matter he would save his precious people and save his village. "I may not be able to use Hiraishin, but I will destroy you. I will save this village because that is what a Kage does, and being Hokage is my dream. Prepare to face my first original jutsu. Make your peace with God. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

With that a semicircle of clones sprang to life around the enemy formation and they started to charge. Naruto himself ran strait towards the two Kages. They slowly gotten into a defensive position and smirked at him. High up on the wall Naruto's friends looked down at him with fear and confusion why was he meaninglessly sacrificing himself. At that moment foul chakra erupted from Naruto and four tails appeared behind him. Jiraiya clenched his fist and wondered what Naruto could possible be doing he couldn't hold that form for more than a minute and the boost in power wasn't enough to make it worth the risk.

After his power burst out Naruto swiftly approached the encampment on all sides facing an army of ANBU and Jounin. Just before he hit the line he yelled. "I swore I'd be Hokage. **Hokage no Jutsu**."

Naruto and all of his clones moved even faster before and as they hit the wall burst into flame and worked farther into the center. In less than a second they had all penetrated into the enemy camp and than in a literal eruption of chakra exploded.

On the wall Gaara quickly brought a wall of sand up to protect the village but the blast was still enough to know everyone off their feet. When they managed to get back to their feet all that was left of one of the largest armies ever assembled as well as Konoha's Number One Most Surprising Ninja was a crater. Konoha was saved and a legend began about a boy who took on the might of two ninja villages and won.

But at that moment no one cared. No one could believe what happened. Tsunade just dropped to her knees and wept. "Naruto, Naruto. NoNot again. Not Naruto."

* * *

AN : Hokage No Jutsu is from Training for the Job a fic by Desaix if you've read my story and not hers I'm not sure what your thinking

Also feel free to flame me any input helps this is my first time writing any kind of fiction so go wild


	2. Burns Quickest

AN: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Silence reigned throughout Konoha. The three days since the battle were filled with repairing the city and cleaning up the battlefield outside. Amazingly enough there had been few deaths for Konoha. There were many in critical condition and many more were walking wounded but thanks to Gaara's support role nearly all of the wounded were swiftly evacuated out of danger. The medic-nin had to work tirelessly throughout the battle and for the last three days but nearly everyone pulled through. In fact only one death weighed on the minds of the majority of the shinobi populace.

The death of one Uzumaki Naruto still shocked all of his acquaintances few could believe that he was dead even as they walked to his funeral. It was a clear beautiful day, in stark contrast to the heavy rain that had fallen almost continuously since the battle.

* * *

Konohamaru could not believe it. He knew if he had been there then he would have been able to save Naruto. It was just like his Grandfather all over again. Except this time he was the one protecting the civilians, instead of being protected. He thought for a long time over the past few days on why he had been assigned to guard duty. He knew he was a Chunin but everyone in the village new that he was Jounin level. He couldn't figure out what they found deficient in him. If he had known, if he could have corrected it maybe Naruto would still be alive. Tears ran down his face as he sat down in front of the casket waiting for the service to start. He looked to his two sides and saw the remainder of the Konohamaru Corp sitting on either side of him. In honor of Naruto both Moegi and Udon decided to join him in wearing their goggles. He would miss his Boss.

* * *

Lee was not his usual self. The greatest holder of the flames of youth he had ever met had had his flames extinguished. He did not know what to think. In his mind he had always known that the path that he and his friends followed was dangerous. It just seemed like there was an air around there group though, an air that screamed immortality. He never seriously considered that there was a chance that one of them would perish. And never for one second would he have thought that the one to go would be Naruto. Lee was different from almost everyone else in the village. He had always thought that Naruto was a good guy. He had always admired his determination. He saw in Naruto a small reflection of himself. As he grew to know him the respect grew. Naruto evolved into the type of person that Lee struggled to be. The type of person who appeared in the stories that were what had driven him to become a ninja. Lee knew that he would continue to let youth guide him. Hopefully they would guide him to be half the man that Naruto was.

* * *

Ino could not believe that the Idiot was gone. Hadn't they just gotten to be friends, hadn't she just started to see just who he really was. Why did he have to die? Why couldn't she have made the effort just a little bit earlier? Why did she have to sit here sitting at his funeral, holding the only flower she would ever give him? It just wasn't fair.

* * *

Inari sat in his chair staring at the empty casket. The only thing to mark it was a battered, scorched plate with a leaf on it. Nothing remained of his hero. Nothing remained of the ninja who saved his family from missing-nin, his country from Gato, and saved him from despair. As tears tracked down his cheek he all that crossed through his mind was. 'I'm sorry Naruto. I know that you told me to only cry when I'm happy but I don't think I can do that this time.'

* * *

Sakura was losing it. She had trained so hard. She wanted to keep up with her teammates. To be able to help them in the future just as they helped her in the past, Naruto had even kept his promise to her. He was her best friend. And now he went somewhere, where she couldn't follow him and still be able to look him in the eye. Why was her Team damned to torment and why couldn't she protect them? Never had a clear day seemed so gloomy to her.

* * *

Sasuke was angry. How dare that idiot die before he had a chance to beat him? How dare he die so soon after the curse seal was broken and he had grasped his revenge? Didn't he know that this wasn't how this was supposed to end? He was supposed to be his best friend, his best man at his wedding, the fun Uncle to come play with his kids, he wasn't supposed to die! Like never before regret filled his heart. The three years that he was gone that seemed like such a small time earlier now seemed to be an unimaginable sacrifice. He didn't think that the revenge tasted all that sweet anymore.

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone, talking to people that only he could see. "Well sensei, it seems I failed again. How come I am never able to save the ones that I care about? I watched him grow up, I wish I had done more to help him but I just didn't know how. If Obito had been here instead of me than I'm sure he would have done a better job. I tried to do what I thought you would have done. You always taught me that the best way to gain strength was to do it alone. I think he hated me sometimes. When I taught Sasuke during the Chunin exams the hurt in his eyes still tears me up inside. We're so different I just didn't know what to do. I just wish I could have been half the sensei you were. Well I've got to go. This is one thing that I will not be late for."

* * *

There was a giant question for Hinata. How should she take her idol, her hero, her inspirations death? Should she take it as a sign that he was wrong? Or should she take it as the ultimate proof of his nindo's worth? As tears dripped down her cheeks a small smile played across her face and she realized how obvious the answer was. Her nindo's strength was confirmed and she vowed to carry on the small part of his dream that she could. She vowed to change the Hyuuga.

* * *

Danzo scowled. His plan had been foiled by that damn brat. The attack should have caused enough damage to allow him to rebuild the village into something truly worthy. At least that damn demon was dead though. 'Well, I guess I'll make an appearance at the funeral. It's not like its everyday that you get to see to Kage's eulogize someone.' He snickered as he walked towards the funeral.

* * *

Tsunade looked over the crowd gathered to mourn the passing of the man she considered a son. Looking out at some of the audience bile rose in her throat as she realized that some of the people in the audience came to do the exact opposite of mourn. With all of her remaining self control she kept herself from doing anything rash. Until some kind of disturbance was started she wouldn't do anything. She had a hard enough just standing here. Only the burning desire to do honor to someone who she thought had the potential to become the greatest Kage to ever live. That desire was all that kept her from collapsing into a sobbing ball. She had to hold through Gaara's speech and then deliver her own. She hoped that she would have the strength to do this for Naruto.

* * *

Gaara looked down at those assembled, scanning the crowd and recognizing several people. For a second his eyes locked with Danzo and he had to wonder what that man was doing here. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had to try his best to give the man who gave him peace in life, a little bit of peace in death. With that thought he began to speak.

* * *


End file.
